The Whisper of the Nargle
by SketchmySkin
Summary: The Malfoy Manor lies in shambles. Draco, the youngest Malfoy has returned to find himself faced with all of his dark shadows that he had before put behind him. The morning was cold and he sipped his tea...But why are there enormous tortoises in his front lawn? And who is that barefoot blonde girl who is asking him about nargles? A story of unexpected romance and friendship.
1. Introduction

Creator's Notes: This is my newest one guys. As always, I own nothing that belongs to JK Rowling. That goes for any and all stories I write.

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A dark shadow stood outside of the gates of the once illustrious Malfoy Manor. With a backpack over one shoulder the figure had stopped to stare. The magical gates which had stood protecting the Manor for decades had been ripped apart and now lay to waste. Long limbs of ivy had overcome the forsaken metal and were oddly symbolic of the death that lay before the shadow. A cloud of loneliness had overcome the old home and now that an occupant was standing at its doors it had no way to greet him.

The shadow, with his own cloud of loneliness walked slowly past the broken down gates as he had so many times before. But this was different. Rather than walking towards a home full of beauty and life he was walking to a home that was dark and had been forgotten. Did his pace pick up? Was he running? Running home as a child would do when there are monsters chasing at their heels and they are scared of the dark. The front doors had been torn off of the once majestic gates and he stopped running. There was no home for him here, he was running – chasing – memories of a home that was but is no more.

The occupants that once belonged now seemed so displaced but here he was, expecting to be greeted home when there was no one to welcome him. No one but the empty home that he once found enchanting and alive was now dead and forsaken. What is home without life, merely an empty mansion that had turned to rubble?

The halls had seen better days as had the shadow that was now walking through them. He ran his hand over the walls in a familiar gesture that the home recognized. A spark of familiarity, a spark of life. It had been a long time since the Malfoy Manor had seen a friendly face. The shadow walked calmly through the halls that were once his home. Had they ever really been home? Perhaps Draco had never known what a home felt like.

So there the boy – who was now a man – stood. In the entryway to the drawing room that his mother once occupied with harsh laughter and his father used in his spare time to practice fencing with the rather skilled Professor Snape who frequented from time to time. The room was empty of the grand furniture that once occupied it, the large chandelier that had once swung proudly now lay marking the exact middle of the room where a large oriental rug once sat.

The backpack was left in the entryway to the room as Draco searched for the large grand piano he had played diligently as a child under his family's watchful eye. The fireplace that was merely decoration at one point now lay somber and dusty. When Draco Malfoy would sit beside it as a child the flames would enchant him as his parental figures chatted with one another. A small meekly house elf would walk between the Malfoys waiting for instructions.

The Malfoys had once been a breed above the rest, now as Draco stood in the large empty room he felt as meek as that house elf – whose name escaped him – who once served them all. The room was cold although it was nearly summer outside of its walls and the one illustrious Draco Malfoy felt the unfamiliar pangs of loneliness.

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Creator's Notes: That's the intro guys. Let me know what you think as always!


	2. Chapter One

Draco could not have slept in that room. There were ghosts in that room. As he stood, hands tucked in the pockets of his pressed pants there screams echoed around him. He stared at the dead fireplace, a strange omen for the rest of the room and could only imagine faint warmth coming from it. Tucked inside of his jacket was a noble wand, his mother's that he never had the chance to give back to her. He could feel it now brushing against his ribs as his torso expanded with each breath. With a swiftness that he almost thought that had been lost to him he had his wand in hand and was pointing it menacingly at that mocking fireplace. Everything was mocking him these days, everything and everyone.

A soft stream of heat came from his hand and lit the fireplace, which hadn't felt a fire in sometime. And for the first time Draco wondered just when his parents had left the home to rot, had it been when they had returned after he departed to Hogwarts? Or did they stand their ground till Christmas? At the thought of Christmas there was a painful twist of Draco's lower stomach. He had spent Christmas alongside the other War survivors but he had not been welcomed. The last year of his Hogwarts experience had been excruciating.

As the fire grew he cast those thoughts from his conscience and mindlessly watched the flames. After a moment he was sucked into the too vivid memory of his last time in the Room of Requirement. The smell of ash came over him and with a crashing suddenness his senses were overwhelmed and he was stumbling away from that fireplace which had rediscovered its youth. He was heaving and with a practiced flick of the wrist the fire was gone and the room was immediately returned to its former atmosphere. Draco Malfoy grimaced as his mind provided him with a mental picture of the last time he had been in that room. A long wooden table had held the most dangerous witches and wizards of his time. He sat across from killers and blood seekers as a former teacher of his floated inches above his hair. The memory of her left chills across his back and he was exiting the room before the memories overcame him.

The portraits on the wall had been mangled; their occupants had run off as their frames lay to rest. Draco's footsteps sounded exaggerated as they were echoed by the emptiness of the house. Although the Malfoy's hadn't exactly filled the home it was now obvious that they were not there. As he rounded a corner there was a portrait that had not been disturbed and its presence startled Draco. The cold eyes that had been a watchful advocate for Draco throughout his school years was missed his Seventh year at Hogwarts. Severus Snape was standing forcefully within the portraits frame. His arms were crossed against his chest and he sniveled at Draco as he hesitantly walked closer. Memories flashed within his mind's eye and he nearly lost his balance.

_Severus was roughly pushing him against the wall. Draco!_

Hearing his name come from the portraits lips brought Draco back to where he had been. He was slumped against the far wall facing the portrait, who after watching Draco lose his composure walked out of the frame and once again left Draco alone in that empty house. Draco could feel his heart beat pounding in his ears and he swallowed hard. His father's harsh voice floated to him from a turned over portrait that was looking up at him from his ankles.

_Compose yourself Draco! Straighten up!_

With the usual rigidness that his father had made him accustomed to Draco almost found solace within the paintings shouting. It almost made this place seem like home again. Draco had to move on; this hallway was beginning to make him feel sick. With a queasy stomach Draco climbed the stairs at the end of the hall to the bedroom he had known throughout his childhood. They were cold and unforgiving but somehow they made Draco feel closer to the home that he remembered. Reaching the large bedroom door that he so fondly thought of while away at that Hogwarts School a small smile graced his lips.

The room was decorated with a deep emerald green that Draco was particularly fond of. His bed was extravagant as was to be expected but his furniture that he often admired was gone. The elegant hangings on the walls were missing as were; he assumed the objects that he had filled that room with. That painful knot twisted as a reminder and he shut the door to that room, leaving the mystery of what was gone for another time. What Draco could not foresee was that the heavy oak door had just closed for the last time.

The bathtub stood on its own and held its occupant tight in its embrace. The water's surface was unmoving as Draco lay at the bottom of the tub, his eyes wide open watching the water settle. Perhaps he would drown in that tub. As that thought floated to the surface with the small bubbles coming from Draco's mouth he sat up, sloshing water over the edge of the tub onto the elegant tiled floor. He was sitting naked, something he did not particularly enjoy and he began to question why he had even gotten into the tub. He didn't plan to wash himself as there were no soaps in the home and it had taken quite the arm strength to flip the tub into its intended position. But here he was, sitting in the tub that he remembered from childhood. With a grace that wasn't necessary he climbed out of the tub and stood naked soaking the floor that his mother had made their elves clean daily.

His image in the mirror stared back at him and the thought briefly passed through him, _is that what I actually look like?_ His hair had gotten longer, blonde and golden like his father's. At the mere whispered thought of his father memories flooded over him and he was left crouching against the side of the tub, still naked but quickly drying off.

Draco Malfoy was a very proud man, even at the worst time in his life. The sight of the dark mark on his arm made him nauseous and he gave up on the attempt to find a better place to sleep for the night. The sights and smells of his old home had indeed gotten the better of him, so there he sat on the tiled floor. He was still naked but a sheen of sweat had overcome him and he spent the night wiping sweat from his brow. He sat in uncomfortable silence, transgressing from being lost in thought to a soft cry and retching into the toilet.

Across the way something was getting closer to the Malfoy home, something that would forever change the life of the Draco boy who was busy throwing up in his childhood toilet.


	3. Chapter Two: Looney Lovegood

Creator's Notes: Here's the next chapter Lovies. Please review as always.

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Draco Malfoy sat on the front porch to his family home, looking rather green and smoking a cigarette to calm his unsteady nerves. The sun had risen without him noticing so now he sat in a white t shirt and muggle jeans that he didn't remember ever purchasing. They had been tucked away in the corners of his enchanted suitcase which stored everything he owned. So here he sat, a fallen Malfoy smoking and staring out at the gardens that had once brought his family great joy but now merely acted as an eyesore for anyone who happened to gaze upon it. A single white peacock still remained sitting on top of the hedges where once they had bred and thrived, a symbol to all outsiders at the power and majesty that the Malfoy's had once upon a time. Now the one bird left squawked at strange hours and pecked at Draco's bare feet when he sat down.

He leaned his head against a support beam to the porch and exhaled a rather large mouthful of smoke, he found the muggle addiction to be relaxing but he could already hear his mother's offended tone if she caught him smoking near her home. But, Draco gently reminded himself, this wasn't her home anymore. Draco had sent an owl off to his parents his last day at Hogwarts but he had yet to receive any word back from them. A part of him had given up hope from hearing back from his family, perhaps they would come wandering back one day and in Malfoy fashion simply pretend that nothing had happened. But his father would be older as would his mother and there would be no way of getting back the years the family had lost.

Another long exhale later and Draco tried to regain the relaxed monotone mood he had walking outside this morning. He was determined to spend his time independently without the thoughts of his family nipping at his ears. When he came back from his thoughts he realized that most of his cigarette had burned away while he was contemplating life and he quickly brought it to his mouth.

"You shouldn't smoke those you know. They're very bad for you." If Draco had been anyone else but a Malfoy he would've screamed at the voice. He had been thoroughly startled and as a result he was standing, his wand at the ready shaking but ready to intimate whoevers voice has resounded. Standing before him was a blonde haired girl that was rather thin but gripping with both hands to her over the shoulder handbag's strap. She blinked kindly at him and repeated herself.

"They're bad for you." She looked incredibly familiar to him but he stayed standing with his wand at the ready.

"Who are you?" He found it strange to hear his own voice because he hadn't spoken in days. His tongue was dry from the cigarette and his voice sounded rather rough.

"Hello again Draco." She walked up the steps to him without hesitation and stood staring eye level with the threatening end of his Mother's wand. Draco's wand was still lost to Harry Potter who had never returned it to him.

"Who are you?" His voice sounded more threatening this time and that pleased him.

"You don't remember me? Shame. Perhaps the Wrackspurt have infested your brain." As he listened closely to her drone he was hit with the memory of her insolent chatter as he walked away from her in the Hogwarts hallways.

"Looney Luna." He lowered his wand but only slightly as she turned her attention away from him and reverted her focus on her odd looking handbag. From it she pulled a wand and held it out to him.

"I have your wand." Draco almost didn't want to believe it but here was Looney Luna, a very strange Ravenclaw standing on his front porch handing him the wand he had dearly missed.

"How did you?" Without bothering to finish he grabbed it from her and ran his hand over it tenderly. He felt as though a lost part of him had been restored. When he looked up at Luna again it seemed that she was in a train of thought.

"From Harry of course, he had it last." Luna was staring at his arm, where his dark mark was showing. She stared surprised up at him and for the first time he noticed that her eyes were a light grey color. "I had forgotten that you were a Death Eater." At the word Draco flinched and looked away from her.

_Glad someone could forget._

"What are you doing here?" Luna smiled vaguely.

"I am following the tortoises of course." She gestured behind her and Draco was shocked to see that enormous turtles had overrun his families' gardens.

"What are those beasts?" Draco swept past Looney Luna and took a few steps towards them. They were the sizes of Muggle SUV's and seemed to have taken root.

"Ingenti Torio." Luna came to stand beside Draco as she watched the large creatures.

"Why are there here? Get them to go away." Luna walked forward and ran a hand over one of the shells of the creatures that were seemingly stationary.

"I can't, no one can." Luna patted the side of the large animal happily. "They are migrating."

Looney Luna followed Draco Malfoy as he ascended the steps again and lit another cigarette. He took deep drags as she explained that after she had left Hogwarts she left her father's side to follow the migration pattern of those giant beasts. She had been traipsing through the country side with them when they came upon the Malfoy Manor and Draco.

"I was surprised to see you actually; the rumor is that this place was abandoned." Luna concluded happily and looked vaguely away at the creators. Draco had nearly finished his cigarette and had honestly only listened to half of her dribbling. He was tired of this woman already and was craving the loneliness that had haunted him.

"Go away." He stood and walked back through the double doors that entered his family's large drawing room. She didn't move from her spot on the stars and the doors shut loudly behind him.

Draco had a modest meal of soup that was easily heated using his wand which he was more than grateful to have returned to his hand. He was sitting in that drawing room that he couldn't seem to escape, he was sitting in the arm chair that his father had always set aside for himself but it now had large gashes through it from whatever pillaging had befallen the home. He was twirling his wand in between his fingers and had a keen eye on the fire, he was lost deep in thought. Memories swirled at his feet and invaded the edges of his mind, keeping him distracted and at bay from whatever thought he was hoping to capture.

He had spent his day starting renovations now that he had his wand again; his mother's wand was tucked carefully in his bewitched suitcase. The home was not nearly what it had been but it was livable now that he had begun repairs. Draco did not bother looking to see if those wretched creatures, Looney Luna included were still in his yard if they were he assumed that they would be gone before morning.

What finally brought him from his haunted memories was a light singing. His cigarette had gone ashen in his hand and he broke his stare from the fire. He swung those double doors open and saw with surprise that the Luna girl was singing and dancing among the awkward looking creatures. Her movement was odd but she had a melodic tone as she sang whatever it was she was singing. He watched her for a few moments but it was only after she noticed him and waved did he slam the doors shut again. With a heavy heart he unlit the fire with his wand and retreated to bed.

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Creator's Notes: And in enters Luna Lovegood! Another chapter coming soon little ones. Reviews make me happy and make chapters come faster!


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